Indian Test squad that lost to England in 2012-13 Test series: Where are they now?

It was revenge time when England toured India in 2012-13. The Indian team had never faced an embarrassment in the last few years as they did before they toured England in 2011. Riding high off a World Cup win, under the leadership of the ‘Man with the Midas touch’, MS Dhoni, the team sailed off to the shores of United Kingdom to set the records straight.

However, it was the fiery English conditions, where the ball swung miles which greeted everyone and got the better of them. Barring Rahul Dravid, there wasn’t anyone else who could give a competition to England. The result – they were humbled with a whitewash in the four-match series.

Hence, in 2012-13, England was greeted with turning tracks with the only aim of replying to their whitewash with a whitewash. The campaign kicked off on a good note for India with a win in the first Test. But then, they were caught off guard with the opposition trying to get the better of the side by playing to the strength of the hosts. Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann trapped India in their spin web and went on to win the next two games.

In the end, the scoreline was 2-1 after the last game was ended in a draw. There was immense outrage from both the fans and the media back then. There were demands of a few senior players retiring and MS Dhoni quitting captaincy. Here is what the members of that losing squad are doing now:

1. MS Dhoni (c)(wk)

MS Dhoni had a forgetful series in 2012-13, both as a batsman and as a captain. He only scored 191 runs in 6 innings with the highest score of 99. Since, that series, a lot has changed for him. He bid adieu to Test cricket late in 2014. Later on, Dhoni also decided to forgo captaincy in the limited-overs format. At the moment, he continues to feature in the ODI and T20I sides and seems to continue till the World Cup 2019.

2. Sachin Tendulkar

The ‘God’ of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was at the twilight of his cricket career when England toured India. After the retirement of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, there were already demands about his retirement as well. He only managed to score 112 runs in six innings, which added fuel to the fire.

Tendulkar, who had already retired from limited-overs cricket, left all forms of international cricket about a year later. Then, he served as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, involved himself in the upbringing of various other sports and has held a few other important positions. He also won the ‘Bharat Ratna’ post his retirement. He also played a crucial in appointing the head coach of Team India twice in a year.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin was just about finding his feet in international cricket at that point in time. He and Pragyan Ojha formed a wonderful duo and were threatening in the subcontinent. The off-spinner picked 14 wickets in 4 games back then and was the third-highest wicket taker.

Six years later, he continues to be a very important member in the Test side. He is the fastest to 300 wickets in the format. Although he was a regular part of the limited-overs sides as well, he faded away from the shorter formats since 2017.